STAR WARS Jedi: Survivor – Lightsaber Stances

Which Style Should You Choose

Cal Kestis will have the opportunity to study and master a number of lightsaber positions in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor. There are a total of five known lightsaber styles, and each has advantages and disadvantages. This article details the advantages of each playstyle as well as the playstyles or encounters that suit it the best.

The following information is based on pre-release announcements; further information will be added once the game is made available.

List of Lightsaber Stance Styles

While Cal became adept in using both single and dual-bladed staff saber combat in Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (as well as the ability to quickly swap to two sabers), you’ll be able to learn five distinct styles in Jedi Survivor that each have a wide moveset and abilities. These moves can be further strengthened by individual skill trees for each lightsaber style.

Only two lightsaber styles can be equipped and swapped between at one time, meaning you’ll have to commit to the stances you choose, and will need to return to a meditation site to swap out other styles. See the list below for more information:

Single Blade Stance

The Single Blade Lightsaber Stance is the most familiar style most players should be familiar with. In this stance, Cal will attack with a single medium-length blade in both one-hand and two-handed strikes. You’ll be able to quickly deflect incoming blaster fire, and toss your saber at mid-ranged threats, and a have a good mix of combat moves.

The Single Blade Stance is a great all around style to use, as its balanced for both offense and defense for both simple enemies and tougher targets you’ll come up against later. Attacks are fairly fast, and while you have to commit to their attack animations, they don’t last as long as some of the other stances meaning you’ll be vulnerable to hits a lot less.

While it’s jack-of-all-trades approach means it won’t excel at topping damage or hitting multiple targets, the single blade has a special move to launch into a thrust attack that can deal heavy stamina damage to break the enemy’s guard.

Consider having this stance equipped as a failsafe to fall back on if enemies are proving too difficult with your other equipped stance, as it makes a good all-arounder to balance out with a more specialized style like the Double-Bladed or Blaster Stance.

The Single Blade Stance Skill Tree is not known at this time, and the best skill upgrades to utilize will be added at launch.

Dual Blades Stance

The Dual Blades Lightsaber Stance was only a brief special move in Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, but has since expanded into a very technical and aggressive stance in Jedi Survivor. While anyone can pick up and run with the stance, experienced players may get the most out of its style, due to its high skill ceiling and increased damage taken if caught off-guard.

With Dual Blades, you’ll attack extremely fast, and can press the attack in aggressive fashion, but quickly react to incoming threats due to the unique ability that lets you guard or dodge while the attack animation is still starting up, cancelling out of the attack and pivoting to defense. This will be crucial as you’ll take more damage in this stance, and will need to be able to react quickly as you slice down opponents before they can overwhelm you.

This stance is a great one to equip if you want to get the most out of Jedi: Survivor’s combat systems, taking on enemies you feel confident in reacting to, or plan to quickly power through a tough slow enemy. You may also want to pair it with a slower style like the Double-Bladed or Cross Guard stances.

The Dual Blade Stance Skill Tree is not known at this time, though we have learned some combos can be learned for increased damage that require timing and pausing to pull off perfectly. The best skill upgrades to get will be added after launch.

Double-Bladed Stance

The Double Bladed Lightsaber Staff Stance was Cal’s other main stance in the previous game, and works in a similar style. It’s the most reliable style for taking out swarms of enemies – especially ones with low health or defense like Battle Droids or small creatures unable to defend.

With the Double-Bladed staff, you’ll be able to hit multiple targets reliably, both up close and at medium range thanks to the ability to toss your lightsaber in a circle around you. The main downside to this stance is that the staff takes a moment to flourish both as you wind up for attacks and finish your combo – leaving Cal vulnerable and unable to dodge or guard when committing to these attacks. You’ll need to time your strikes to hit fast and hard before the enemy hits you back, and utilize force powers to keep foes locked down from interrupting you.

Consider having this stance equipped when you know you’ll be heading into territory full of hordes of enemies that may threaten to overwhelm you, or otherwise feel like you find yourself on the defense a lot (as the staff is great for deflecting multiple ranged blaster shots quickly). It goes well with pretty much any other stance for when you want to swap to something to focus on a specific single enemy.

The Double-Bladed Stance Skill Tree is not known just yet, and the best skill upgrades to utilize will be added at launch.

Cross Guard Stance

The Cross Guard Blade Stance will be familiar to those who watched the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy, as it closely mirrors Kylo Ren’s lightsaber with a cross-guard hilt. It’s the strongest style in the game, and will dish out a lot of damage at a much slower pace than other stances.

With the Cross Guard Stance, you’ll be able to kill lesser enemies with only a few strikes, but you may find it harder to judge the distance, as this stance is the only one that does not actively move Cal forward when attacking for most strikes, meaning it has the shortest range of all stances. Instead, you’ll need to accurately judge your spacing and either lure enemies into your range right as you slow attacks land, or focus on defense and countering to make sure your hits land. Cal will commit to these slow combat strikes, leaving your vulnerable to getting hit as you strike.

Despite its sluggishness, there’s a lot of moves to surprise enemies with, including a more forceful saber toss and a dropkick attack to close the distance at a faster but more reckless pace. You should ideally want to pair this stance with a safer style like the Single Blade or Double-Bladed styles — or even the Dual Blades if you’re confident in making the most out of that style’s move cancelling ability.

The Cross Guard Stance Skill Tree is not known at this time, and the best skill upgrades to obtain will be added after launch.

Blaster Stance

The Blaster and Blade Stance is a brand new and unconventional style, especially for a Jedi. It incorporates using a lightsaber blade in one hand and a blaster in the other to deal with threats both up close and at range.

It’s not fully understood how the stance works yet, but developers have stated that it “encourages you to use your saber in order to replenish your ammunition and your gun. It’s almost this rubber band that we’re encouraging the player to engage up close so that they can kind of make decisions when they’re far away as well.” This appears to indicate you’ll have a very limited amount of shots on your blaster, and must use it in tandem with your blade to shoot enemies at range before getting in close to opt for the saber while your ammo replenishes.

Everything we’ve learned about this stance indicates it might be a superior option for dealing with multiple ranged threats – though developers have clarified you won’t exactly be able to snipe enemies, as it still a melee combat style for all intents and purposes. However, this may give players who have a hard time deflecting blasts from multiple enemies an easier time taking out targets that like to lurk behind the front lines.